Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique performed with a mechanical device that lifts the skin by means of suction,creates a skin fold and mobilises that skin fold.In the late 1970s,this therapy ...Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique performed with a mechanical device that lifts the skin by means of suction,creates a skin fold and mobilises that skin fold.In the late 1970s,this therapy was introduced to treat traumatic or burn scars.Although vacuum massage was invented to treat burns and scars,one can find very little literature on the effects of this intervention.Therefore,the aim of this review is to present an overview of the available literature on the physical and physiological effects of vacuum massage on epidermal and dermal skin structures in order to find the underlying working mechanisms that could benefit the healing of burns and scars.The discussion contains translational analysis of the results and provides recommendations for future research on the topic.An extended search for publications was performed using PubMed,Web of Science and Google Scholar.Two authors independently identified and checked each study against the inclusion criteria.Nineteen articles were included in the qualitative synthesis.The two most reported physical effects of vacuum massage were improvement of the tissue hardness and the elasticity of the skin.Besides physical effects,a variety of physiological effects are reported in literature,for example,an increased number of fibroblasts and collagen fibres accompanied by an alteration of fibroblast phenotype and collagen orientation.Little information was found on the decrease of pain and itch due to vacuum massage.Although vacuum massage initially had been developed for the treatment of burn scars,this literature review found little evidence for the efficacy of this treatment.Variations in duration,amplitude or frequency of the treatment have a substantial influence on collagen restructuring and reorientation,thus implying possible beneficial influences on the healing potential by mechanotransduction pathways.Vacuum massage may release the mechanical tension associated with scar retraction and thus induce apoptosis of myofibroblasts.Suggestions for future research include upscaling the study design,investigating the molecular pathways and dose dependency,comparing effects in different stages of repair,including evolutive parameters and the use of more objective assessment tools.展开更多
Background:Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique invented to treat burns and scars.To date,no effects of vacuum massage on thickness and density of human scar tissue have been reported.The proc...Background:Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique invented to treat burns and scars.To date,no effects of vacuum massage on thickness and density of human scar tissue have been reported.The process in which external stimuli are converted into biochemical responses in the cell is known as mechanotransduction.In the skin endothelial cells,fibroblasts and myofibroblasts embedded in the extracellular matrix(ECM)sense mechanical stimuli(created by vacuum massage)and may promote intracellular processes leading to matrix remodelling.Since mechanotransduction could be a plausible working mechanism for vacuum massage as an anti-scarring therapy,this study aims to investigate the short-term effects of vacuum massage on thickness and density of epidermis and dermis in burn scars in order to find proof of ECM remodelling.Methods:A one group experimental study was performed.Patients with burn scars on upper extremities,lower extremities,and trunk were recruited for participation in this study.The DUB?cutis 22 MHz ultrasound scanner was used to assess thickness and density of the epidermal and dermal skin layers.After baseline measurements,vacuum massage was performed according to a pre-defined protocol.Measurements were carried out at 5 min,30 min,1 h,and 2 h post-intervention.Results:Thirteen scar sites from 9 different patients were investigated.In 8 out of the 13 scar sites,a disruption of the epidermis was noticed after the vacuum massage.Five minutes after the intervention,epidermal density decreased statistically significantly(p=.022)and dermal thickness increased(p=.018).Both changes lasted for more than 1 h,but after 2 h,the changes were no longer statistically significant.Dermal density decreased significantly(p=.048)immediately after the intervention,and this decrease was still present after 2 h(p=.011).Conclusions:Preliminary results show that the disruption of the epidermis may indicate that vacuum massage could be able to actually breach the skin barrier.The statistically significant changes in the dermal layers could suggest an increased ECM production after vacuum massage.展开更多
文摘Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique performed with a mechanical device that lifts the skin by means of suction,creates a skin fold and mobilises that skin fold.In the late 1970s,this therapy was introduced to treat traumatic or burn scars.Although vacuum massage was invented to treat burns and scars,one can find very little literature on the effects of this intervention.Therefore,the aim of this review is to present an overview of the available literature on the physical and physiological effects of vacuum massage on epidermal and dermal skin structures in order to find the underlying working mechanisms that could benefit the healing of burns and scars.The discussion contains translational analysis of the results and provides recommendations for future research on the topic.An extended search for publications was performed using PubMed,Web of Science and Google Scholar.Two authors independently identified and checked each study against the inclusion criteria.Nineteen articles were included in the qualitative synthesis.The two most reported physical effects of vacuum massage were improvement of the tissue hardness and the elasticity of the skin.Besides physical effects,a variety of physiological effects are reported in literature,for example,an increased number of fibroblasts and collagen fibres accompanied by an alteration of fibroblast phenotype and collagen orientation.Little information was found on the decrease of pain and itch due to vacuum massage.Although vacuum massage initially had been developed for the treatment of burn scars,this literature review found little evidence for the efficacy of this treatment.Variations in duration,amplitude or frequency of the treatment have a substantial influence on collagen restructuring and reorientation,thus implying possible beneficial influences on the healing potential by mechanotransduction pathways.Vacuum massage may release the mechanical tension associated with scar retraction and thus induce apoptosis of myofibroblasts.Suggestions for future research include upscaling the study design,investigating the molecular pathways and dose dependency,comparing effects in different stages of repair,including evolutive parameters and the use of more objective assessment tools.
文摘Background:Vacuum massage is a non-invasive mechanical massage technique invented to treat burns and scars.To date,no effects of vacuum massage on thickness and density of human scar tissue have been reported.The process in which external stimuli are converted into biochemical responses in the cell is known as mechanotransduction.In the skin endothelial cells,fibroblasts and myofibroblasts embedded in the extracellular matrix(ECM)sense mechanical stimuli(created by vacuum massage)and may promote intracellular processes leading to matrix remodelling.Since mechanotransduction could be a plausible working mechanism for vacuum massage as an anti-scarring therapy,this study aims to investigate the short-term effects of vacuum massage on thickness and density of epidermis and dermis in burn scars in order to find proof of ECM remodelling.Methods:A one group experimental study was performed.Patients with burn scars on upper extremities,lower extremities,and trunk were recruited for participation in this study.The DUB?cutis 22 MHz ultrasound scanner was used to assess thickness and density of the epidermal and dermal skin layers.After baseline measurements,vacuum massage was performed according to a pre-defined protocol.Measurements were carried out at 5 min,30 min,1 h,and 2 h post-intervention.Results:Thirteen scar sites from 9 different patients were investigated.In 8 out of the 13 scar sites,a disruption of the epidermis was noticed after the vacuum massage.Five minutes after the intervention,epidermal density decreased statistically significantly(p=.022)and dermal thickness increased(p=.018).Both changes lasted for more than 1 h,but after 2 h,the changes were no longer statistically significant.Dermal density decreased significantly(p=.048)immediately after the intervention,and this decrease was still present after 2 h(p=.011).Conclusions:Preliminary results show that the disruption of the epidermis may indicate that vacuum massage could be able to actually breach the skin barrier.The statistically significant changes in the dermal layers could suggest an increased ECM production after vacuum massage.
